Developing and Structuring Bankable Projects in Africa

Developing and Structuring Bankable Projects (DSBP) in Africa focuses on small to medium-size projects (up to $300 million) which require project finance and typically are associated with public private partnerships and/or independent producer programs. Projects that fit this criteria – energy, infrastructure, industrial, and public sector – tend to be more complex and require more structuring to create bankability.

Developing projects in sectors like energy, industrial, public service, and other infrastructure is not just a technical task, but involves a full range of elements to develop a sustainable business model. This business model takes into account ownership structure, communities, understanding requirements for funding, capacity, technology, financial models, environmental and market analysis, etc.

Project developers, and their stakeholders, regularly find a heavier burden to bring all the necessary pieces together on small to mid-size projects in Africa. Many project developers find that having the technical capacity and/or connections is not sufficient to develop a bankable project.

DSBP Africa helps build a comprehensive and holistic knowledge set within the project developer community in Africa. It focuses on developing the business model from idea through feasibility. (The follow-up practicum covers from idea through funding with a heavier emphasis on middle to late stage project development.)

DSBP Africa pays special attention to the early stage to middle stage project development process – from idea to feasibility – where a lot of time is wasted and gaps exist. These stages are also known as “project preparation.” The program is designed to assist project stakeholders to accelerate and be more efficient at managing projects. It also prepares project stakeholders for the remaining stages of the project development process.

This workshop is suitable for government agencies, private sector, communities, developers, technical teams, and technical support agencies. The workshop, and other options, is also excellent for building holistic capacity in organizations that develop and/or support projects in Africa.

To get an idea of the project development process and the different activities, tools, and resources you will need and will get from the program or workshop, watch the webinar session below. It covers the project development process and project definition document of renewable energy projects. The process and project definition is similar for other industrial and infrastructure projects although content will vary depending upon the type of project.

This sample session is part of the FREE on-demand webinar series, Understanding Project Preparation, which gives you an overview and helps you get started with your project definition document.

Project development costs are often 10% of total project cost, depending on the project. The early and middle stages of project development can be anywhere from 1% of the total project cost and up, and are required before tapping significant funding options. So, if your project is $10 million to implement it can cost you easily more than $1,000,000 to see it through concept development (the business case), proof of concept (pre-feasibility and feasibility), funds attraction (pitching to funders and investors), and financial close (acquiring required funding). A feasibility study alone can be upwards of $100,000 in this example.

If you do not understand the process, requirements, procedures, tasks, and activities for project development, you will waste time, effort, money, and often valuable relationships. For example, the concept development phase is almost always funded by the project sponsor/developer (or close associates), so you want to make sure your money is well spent.

This program empowers you with a process, methodology, and tools to assist you in bringing the key resources, partners, and capital together whether you are the project sponsor/developer or another key stakeholder on the project. The fee for this program is a small investment compared to the potential return on investment. And you can use what you learn over and over again so that your investment multiplies.

We recommend that you use this workshop in the following way:

Educate yourself about what is needed to take a project from an idea to implementation and get it funded. Learn about the process, tasks, activities, expectations, requirements, documentation, agreements, best practices, and tools available in one workshop as a foundation instead of having to do your own research over months or hiring a consultant to do everything for you. If you want to go this last route, our sister company, Afribiz Group, can assist you or we can recommend others for you to reach out to.

Engage with all key stakeholder groups in the projects development early in the project’s development. Depending on the type of project, you need to get buy-in from financiers, investors, EPCs, landholders, contractors, engineers, communities, government, etc. to move your project through the development cycle. You need these stakeholders to get to bankability, funding, and implementation. We show you how, and when, to work with them in the process, as well as provide tools to manage the engagements.

Do some of the heavy lifting in the early stages yourself. Develop key aspects of the project yourself, including the project definition, concept document, and pre-feasibility document to the best of your ability. Continue to do this throughout the entire project development process. We share templates and examples with you.

Get experts involved. You will not bypass needing assistance from experts (e.g., business, legal, accounting, technical). However, you will be able to scope their work effort better and be actively involved so that your objectives are being met and your cash flow is managed. We introduce you to industry experts, including funders, in the workshop (live sessions) but then work with you and them more closely in the practicum, or incubation, program to get your project to bankability so that you can attract capital, resources, and partners.

After participants have completed the workshop and practicum, Afribiz can offer customized individual or group support to assist in carrying through financial close. For further information, contact our office.

Project Stakeholder or Private Group Custom Options*

Many organizations, industry, government agencies, and project teams will find value in having the workshop, practicum, and/or value added support tailored to the needs of their projects. The methodology, framework, and tools provided enable teams to have a common understanding, capacity, and execution methodology that brings all key stakeholders to the table.

Afribiz’s approach is to format the engagement as a project team ramp-up versus a general workshop and/or practicum. This allows the project to advance at the same time the team (key stakeholders) is developing and capacity is being built. This model of capacity building has been shown to be of greater value since the tasks and methodology are fully contextualized to a current project. For further information, contact our office.

*These options are not part of the workshop, so therefore, they have separate pricing structures. The options are made available upon request, contact us if you are interested in learning more.